Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic website

Police imagine an in a single day fire in Wyoming that broken a constructing being renovated to house a new abortion clinic was intentionally set

By

MEAD GRUVER Associated Press

May 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min read

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a hearth early Wednesday that police believe was deliberately set — possibly by someone seen running away from the constructing carrying what appeared to be a fuel can and a bag.

The blaze broken the inside of the constructing under renovation to house the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest metropolis in a state the place opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which also planned to offer different well being care services for ladies, had been set to open in June as only the second place within the state to offer abortions. Wyoming’s present lone location for ladies to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

An individual who known as authorities earlier than daybreak noticed someone running from the building with what appeared to be a fuel can and a black bag, police mentioned in a Fb post. Investigators were reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of figuring out the suspect or producing a suspect description, police said. No accidents have been reported.

Julie Burkhart, the clinic’s director, stated clinic organizers had been receiving harassing emails and telephone messages. The constructing had video cameras that have been functioning, and police were given access to them, she stated.

“Whether or not you’re against abortion or assist abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” mentioned Burkhart, a former associate of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider who was shot and killed in a Wichita, Kansas, church in 2009.

Protests have been held this spring by abortion opponents on the future clinic website, and signs opposing abortion have been seen Wednesday in a window of an apartment next door to the building.

Wyoming is one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off law that may immediately outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade determination that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that may occur quickly.

Police briefly closed off the street the place the small building is located as officers investigated. A number of of the constructing's home windows had been broken, and smoke damage was visible round one shattered window.